Travails and Triumphs of Great Destinies (1)

You are the architect of your destiny. Your destiny is in your hand. However, the fact that your destiny is in your hand does not mean you will achieve everything you set out to do in a jiffy.

Great destinies are not made overnight. You don’t become what you want to become without struggle. One of the characteristics of great destinies is that they are fraught with travails. Any destiny that is rosy-like or free of travails is no great destiny at all, because travails themselves are the workshops where great destinies are created.

Lessons About Great Destinies

To achieve the great destiny God has ordained for us, there are a number of lessons we can learn and imbibe. Below are seven lessons (divided into 7 parts) which we can learn about great destinies.

I.            If Your Destiny Glorifies God, Satan and his Agents Will

Fight to Truncate It

Every great destiny must of necessity glorify God because God is the designer of great destiny. Satan is the arch-enemy of great destinies. He does not want mankind to enjoy the blessings of great destinies. He therefore fights constantly to truncate great destinies.

Satan is the enemy of all good things. He always carries out his diabolical activities in the lives of great men of God. Job in the Bible is a man of great destiny. The lifestyle he lived glorified God all his life. Satan was unhappy with Job’s lifestyle. He sought to ruin Job’s life and destiny. But satan could not do Job anything without God allowing him.

There is a big consolation here: unless God allows it, satan cannot wrought any havoc in any life. And when God allows it, as in the case of Job, it is all for the glory of His holy name. WHEN YOU LIVE THE LIFESTYLE THAT GOD EXPECTS YOU TO LIVE, YOU CREATE A HEDGE AROUND YOU WHICH MAKES YOU UNTOUCHABLE!

But because of the relevance of travails to your great destiny, God may allow satan to bring some travails upon you. However, God will never allow satan to overwhelm you. The travails brought by satan and his cohorts are only orchestrated by God for your triumph and for the glory of His holy name.

Remember the positive confession of Job: “When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” Please run away from anyone that promises you a travail-free life. We all want a travail-free life. But note that Jesus did not promise us a travail-free life. He says: “In the world, ye shall have tribulation, but cheer up for I have overcome the world.”

All those that are pursuing their God-ordained destiny will encounter the onslaught of satan. Satan will try one way or the other to frustrate men and women of great destiny, but he will fail woefully. More importantly, God has designed that you will always triumph in the end.

Great destinies provoke great travails. You don’t have to be afraid of what satan and his cohorts can do. Don’t be afraid of demanding great destiny for yourself because of what satan and his agents can do.

Even if you sell yourself shot by refusing to aspire for greatness, that won’t insulate you from travails. Whether you choose to live a life that God wants you to live or not, you cannot run away entirely from travails. It is true that you will encounter more travails when you aspire for great destiny. But it is also true that great travails are the very workshops where great destinies are fashioned out.

The onslaught of satan cannot affect your great destiny. Almighty God, the Master of the universe, who has ordained you for greatness will make you to triumph over every onslaught of satan.

Note that what God requires of us is that we should live a life that will glorify Him. Doing this implies steering clear of sin. The only thing that can mar our destiny is sin. The Bible is replete with stories of great men and women of God who, at their breaking point, yielded to sin and displeased God.

Think of people like Samson. Like Solomon. Like Jehu. Like Saul. Like David. Like Gideon. Holiness is the greatest shield we can use to ward off the attack of satan and his cohorts. We should strive to live a life free of sin. We can never go wrong when we flee all appearance of sins. This is difficult, but we can ask God to give us the grace to live uprightly.

Psalm 84:11says: “FOR THE LORD GOD IS A SUN AND SHIELD: THE LORD WILL GIVE GRACE AND GLORY: NO GOOD THING WILL HE WITHHOLD FROM THEM THAT WALK UPRIGHTLY.” When you walk uprightly, the Lord God, who is the sun and the shield, will not withhold any good thing from you.

If God gives you every good thing because you walk uprightly, who is that Jupiter that would deny you of those good things?

To obtain all good things from the Almighty God, it is your responsibility to WALK UPRIGHTLY. And until I come your way soon, go and live victoriously!

PS: part two of this article will come your way soon. Watch out for it and make sure you don’t miss it!

How to Abandon the Blame Game and Play the Main Game (2)

How to Undo What the Enemies have done

In taking the responsibility to undo what your enemies have done, you can follow this blueprint:

1.    Have a Clear Interpretation

Most of the problems we are having stem from the way we give interpretations to issues of life. Most times, we hold the belief that because the enemies have brought misfortune on us, they are in control of our destiny. But as we can learn from the life of Job, God may permit satan to do certain things, but that doesn’t mean that satan is in control of our destiny.

If you allow satan to make you believe that your destiny is in his hand or in the hand of those he is using to oppress you, satan will succeed in killing your faith and he will eventually take control of your destiny. That is why you must establish firmly in your mind that YOUR DESTINY IS NOT IN THE HAND OF SATAN OR ANY PERSON, BUT IN GOD’S HANDS.

Satan and his agents will try to make you believe that having caused your misfortune, they are in control of your destiny. Enemies of progress will try to remind you that they are in firm grip of your destiny. But these are all lies. These lies are meant to diminish your faith in God so that they can eventually gain control of your destiny.

THE ONLY TIME YOUR ENEMIES CAN GAIN CONTROL OF YOUR DESTINY IS WHEN THEY SUCCEED IN DESTROYING YOUR FAITH IN GOD. If you are in tune with God, you are automatically under the protection of the Almighty God. Hence, your destiny remains in God’s hands.

This is the correct interpretation: THE ENEMIES MAY BRING MISFORTUNE, BUT THEY ARE NOT IN CONTROL OF YOUR DESTINY. THE ONLY PERSON IN CONTROL OF YOUR DESTINY IS THE ALMIGHTY GOD. THIS IS WHY YOU MUST REFUSE TO BELIEVE THE LIES OF SATAN AND ENEMIES OF PROGRESS THAT THEY ARE HAVING CONTROL OF YOUR DESTINY.

2.    See the Positive Side of Things

The problem with blame game players is that they cannot take their eyes off those people they think are the cause of their misfortunes. They are more engrossed in their misfortune and in every negative thing that is happening to them.

The frustrated man you read about in part 1 of this article, who set himself ablaze, got so deeply engrossed in what he thought was a misfortune, and he saw no reason why he should continue living.

Every move he made was frustrated by law enforcements agents, who kept chasing him away from plying his trade in the prohibited area of the city.

His mind was so cluttered with negative thoughts that he never took time to consider taking his business to other parts of the city were traders are allowed to transact their businesses.

The solution to this man’s problem was with him. But because his mind was fixed on the negative things that were happening to him, he could not think clearly on how to solve the problem confronting him.

Nothing destroys lives than negative lifestyle. Negative lifestyle comprises the negative thoughts, habits and acts we exhibit all the time. It is high time we dealt with our negative attitude towards problems of life. There is always a positive side to every negative issue of life. There can never be a dark cloud that does not have a silver lining behind it. It is not possible to have a problem which has no solution.

It is your responsibility to find the solution to your problem. In finding solutions to problems that confront you, you should learn to see the positive side of problems.

Job in the Bible was a first-class positive thinker. He went through the worst form of misfortune, yet, he remained positive. No wonder, he overcame in the end.

Here are some statements Job made in the midst of misfortune, which demonstrated his strength of character:

•  “When He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10)    

• “Though he slays me, yet will I trust Him. But I will maintain my own ways before Him.” (Job 13:15)

•  “For I know that my redeemer liveth.” (Job 19:25)

3.    Cast Your Burden on Jesus

The blame game is a big trouble on its own, not even to talk of the ones brought on you by your enemies. These double troubles we carry about are so heavy that they continue to weigh us down. These problems have driven some people to insanity, and for others, these burden have driven them to the path of suicide.

Dear reader, one of the benefits of Christianity is that we have access to the throne of grace where we can cast our burden on Jesus. There is an Igala proverb that says: “A person that is killed by a load he carries on his head is the one that is foolish.”

If you are carrying a load on your head and the load is weighing you down, it is unwise to allow the load to weigh you down and kill you. The wise thing to do is to cast the load off your head!

It is our unwillingness to cast our burden on Jesus that is making our burden to weigh us down.  Most times, we come to God in prayer, drop our burden before God, and after the end of our prayer, we still carry the burden back from God and continue to get bogged down with it.

WE CANNOT SAY WE HAVE ACTUALLY CAST OUR BURDEN ON THE LORD WHEN WE STILL WORRY AND GO ABOUT BLAMING EVERYBODY FOR OUR PLIGHT.

We have to let go and let God. Worrying will not solve our problems. Blaming everybody for our problems will not solve our problems either. No amount of suspicion can solve our problems. It is only God that can solve our problems. And it is only God that we should turn to.

Till I come your way soon, stop blaming everybody for your plight and start taking the responsibility of solving your problems by God’s help. This is the path to victorious living. Go and be victorious now and ever!

    

Special Feature: Walking out of Mediocrity and into a Life of Excellence

It is a time-tested principle of success that in order to make progress, we must constantly forget those things which are behind and reach forth unto those things which are before.

Going by this success principle, it can be disastrous looking back instead of pressing on towards the mark of God’s great plan for your life. On matters of the kingdom, the person who should know, that is,  the Master Jesus, said: “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).

Similarly, in the Old Testament book of Genesis, we are told how God’s angels seriously warned Lot and his family members to escape for their life and never to look back. Unfortunately, Lot’s wife looked back from behind and became a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26).

In matters of life on earth and in heaven, we can conclude from the above that looking back can be costly and disastrous. Looking back can create a tendency in you to compromise or quit. Looking back can be a sign that you are reluctant or unwilling to continue on the path to success. But no matter how frustrated, discouraged or hopeless you feel, if you will be victorious in life, you must stop looking back at your past failures and defeats.

Saint Paul said: “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark of the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:13-14).

Like Saint Paul, we must learn to forget those things which are behind and reach forth unto those things which are before us. We must press toward being the best that God wants us to be.

Looking Back When Necessary

There is, however, an exception to this rule against looking back. The exception is in no way a violation of the general rule against looking back. The exception is more or less a strategy for wining the battles of life. The exception says: “To be highly successful in life, you may look back, not to bemoan your failures and defeats or to be complacent with your successes, but to use them as tools/weapons for planning, strategizing and fighting your way through to greater victory.”

Everything depends on your motive for looking back. Like Lot’s wife, if your motive for looking back is to bemoan all the things you have to forgo in order to achieve victory, then, this can be disastrous. But if your motive for looking back is to enable you to make proper planning and strategizing, then, you are on the path to victory.

Now, as CFVL celebrates its second year anniversary this July 2013, we are not looking back to bemoan our failures and defeats, nor are we looking back at our past successes in order to rest on our oars.

We are looking back in order to assess our performance, shortcomings and imperfections. By so doing, we can plan and strategise in order to successfully carry out our mandate. Our Mandate has been and is to inspire, motivate and teach principles for success, prosperity, abundance and victorious living.

So far, we can say that the implementation of our Mandate has been satisfactory. This is not to say that we did not have some challenges. We had some challenges quite alright. But you see, it is not the challenges that matter, it is the ability to the face challenges and overcome them that matters.

The fact that our two blogs – centreforvictoriousliving.com and centreforvictoriousliving.blogspot.com – are still visible online with regular fresh content is an indication of the victory that we preach. CFVL does not see challenges as an abnormality. Challenges are part of life. Problems, difficulties and troubles are part of life.

The only place you cannot find challenges, problems and troubles is the cemetery. There, everything is calm and peaceful. Dear reader, are you facing some challenges, problems and troubles? These are signs that you are alive. Problems are part of life. And the only way to enjoy life is to spend your life solving problems.

THE MORE PROBLEMS YOU SOLVE, THE MORE SUCCESSFUL YOU BECOME. This is the way the world is made to function. People who learn to handle more problems become super achievers while those who run away from problems deprive themselves of opportunities for greatness.

Are you addicted to the habit of quitting when the going gets tough? Are you always looking back bemoaning your loss, failures and defeats? Then listen: you are not helping matters at all. IF YOU REALLY DESIRE VICTORY, WHAT YOU MUST KEEP LOOKING FOR IS VICTORY. Bemoaning your loss is a sign of defeat. 

You cannot be victorious in life if you keep focusing on defeat. It is what you want that you must keep focusing upon. Do you really want victory? Then, your focus should be on victory.

How to Use Challenges to Urge You On

If you must look back at your failure and defeat, it must be because you want to use them to inspire you to excel. Are you surprised to know that failure and defeat can be used as an inspiration for excellent performance? There is no cause for surprise at all. The fact is: even the negative things that are happening to us can be used to spur us to achieve greater success. To the positive-minded person, everything, including the good, the bad and the ugly, can be used as an inspiration to spur him to be the best that God want him to be.

A preacher once narrated the inspirational story of a lady who used “carry-overs” she had in her first year in the university to spur her to excel and earn first-class degree in Mathematics.

In the words of this preacher, the life of the girl was a life of constant struggle, but was a life of constant victory as well. She sat for JAMB’s UME six times before she eventually passed and secured admission to the university.

In the university, she had financial challenge. In her academic, she also had some challenges. In her first year as a Mathematics undergraduate, she carried over some courses. She thought about these double struggles she was fighting and was disturbed a bit.

“How can I be having financial struggle and academic struggle at the same time? If I cannot handle this financial problem, I should be able to handle the academic problem. I must not allow both struggles to defeat me.”

She brought to bear all her energy on her academics. She worked harder and harder, smarter and smarter, and in the end, she bagged first-class degree in Mathematics, a course that is much dreaded by students!

What an inspiring story! From “carry-over” to first-class! Every university graduate knows that this is a difficult feat to achieve. Even many who never carried over a single course in the university know how difficult it is to aspire for first-class!

What is the lesson here? I think the lesson is that WHEN YOU ARE POSITIVE MINDED, EVEN THE NEGATIVE HAPPENINGS IN YOUR LIFE CAN BE USED AS A SPUR TO URGE YOU ON TO ACHIEVE AMAZING RESULTS.

Dear reader, are you looking back at your past and getting discouraged? You can draw a vital lesson from the life of this female first-class Mathematics graduate. She has been in the thick of the battle – financial struggle, academic struggle, discomfort, etc. But she did not use any of these struggles as an excuse to quit. Instead, she used these struggles to spur herself on to achieve extraordinary result.

What are you doing about those challenges confronting you? Have you sat down to take concrete decision to deal with them? You have to be hard on yourself because life itself is hard. A life of ease or comfort does not lead any where. The Book of Success, the Bible says: “Woe to them that are at ease in Zion” (Amos 6:1).   

You have to fasten your belt and get dissatisfied with your present level of achievement. Get agitated. If you don’t get agitated, you are not likely going to take serious decision that will usher you into the camp of victors.

As CFVL celebrates its second year anniversary, CFVL is urging you to develop a positive mindset so that you can use every negative thing that is happening in your life to inspire you to be the best that God wants you to be.

Until I come your way soon, go and draw inspiration from your past shortcomings and use it to spur you on to achieve the extraordinary! Go and live victoriously!

Out With a Bang!

Dear reader, CFVL (Centre for Victorious Living) is out with a bang! There is however no surprise about this. All these while, we have have been working on dozens of great
products which we believe you will benefit greatly from. Without wasting
 your your time, please click the following link to know more about the
products:

www.enemaku.blogspot.com

Key of the Kingdom: How to Unlock the Door to Eternal Abundance Right Here on Earth!

Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler in the Bible is really dramatic and riddled with vital lessons we can learn. The rich young ruler had all the money he desired. He also lived a godly life right from childhood. He kept the Ten Commandments which were the criteria for inheriting eternal life, yet he was not fulfilled.

In his quest for fulfillment and assurance of eternal life, he ran to Jesus, knelt down and asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus asked him to keep the Ten Commandments. He said he had been doing that right from his youth.

Jesus quickly realized that he lacked ONE thing! Jesus instructed him to sell his property, give the proceeds to the poor and then return to follow Him. The man became very sad and went away.

A godly man, the rich young ruler was very much preoccupied with accumulation of wealth. There is nothing wrong with that. Jesus didn’t condemn him for being rich. The truth Jesus sees about riches is that most rich people find it difficult using their riches to better the lot of the less privileged.

The sadness of the rich young ruler after Jesus told him to go and sell his properties, donate the proceeds to the poor and return to follow him buttresses this fact. The story of this rich young ruler is a pointer to the fact that no amount of wealth we accumulate will bring us happiness and fulfillment.

There are people who believe that what matters most is accumulation of wealth. They believe if they get all the money they want, they would be happy and fulfilled. They rich young ruler might have thought that way too.

He thought if he could acquire all the money he desired and kept the Ten Commandments, he would enjoy here on earth and also enjoy eternal life in heaven.

The grab-grab mentality and the desire to accumulate wealth can never earn us happiness and fulfillment. It is a big deception to think that by accumulating all the wealth we can, we will be happy and fulfilled.       

The key to fulfillment and God’s favour is service. This is the very key Jesus handed over to the rich young ruler, but unfortunately, he failed to realize that this was the key he needed to unlock the door to fulfillment and eternal life.

If your desire for riches is for purpose of accumulating wealth and for your own benefit alone, you may never be happy and fulfilled. Jesus wanted the best for the rich young ruler and so gave him the best solution. He should sell his properties, use the proceeds to better the lot of the poor and he should follow Him and become a dispenser of God’s grace to mankind.

O yes, it is not a sin to be rich. You should strive to be rich and get out of poverty fast, but IF YOU WANT FULFILLMENT AND ETERNAL BLISS, YOU MUST NOT ONLY BE RICH AND GODLY, YOU MUST ALSO BECOME A CHANNEL THROUGH WHICH THE GRACE, LOVE, MERCY AND POWER OF GOD WILL FLOW CONSTANTLY TO HUMANITY.

Jesus was happy and fulfilled because he served God and humanity to the fullest. He lived a selfless life. He went around doing good, healing the sick and casting out devils from possessed people. Even now, he brings life where there is death, light where there is darkness, happiness where there is sadness and sorrow and brings deliverance to captives.

The reason we are sad and unhappy is that we are too much preoccupied with ourselves. Our self-centredness makes us to lose the benefits of service.

The rich young ruler was too self-centred. He didn’t have the interest of others at heart. As far as he had more than enough to cater for himself and his family, and as far he was keeping the Ten Commandments in order to inherit eternal life, it doesn’t matter if others die in abject poverty and go to hell. But despite his self-centredness, he was not happy and fulfilled.

No wonder, Jesus revealed to him why he was not happy and fulfilled: “One thing thou lackest.” Dear reader, ANY TIME YOU ARE BECOMING HAPPY ABOUT YOUR LIFE OR YOU ARE GETTING FRUSTRATED BECAUSE THINGS ARE NOT WORKING WELL WITH YOU, GO OUT AND HELP OTHERS.

Never remain at the same spot whining and complaining. You can do something to impact lives positively, even when things are not going well with you. If you have some money, you can set up charity organization to cater for motherless children or the less privileged.

A radio preacher said recently: “If God is helping me to take care of my family and my family needs, what else do I need other than to be a blessing to others?” There are many services you can render to humanity which will bring you happiness and fulfillment.

You can encourage, motivate and inspire others to live positive lifestyle. You can help someone do a job. And whenever you do this, don’t expect anything in return. If the reward comes with it, fine. But note that it is life that will richly reward you for your kind gestures. More importantly, you will have joy and fulfillment.

Honest and sincere service to mankind is what counts. You may not have anything, but if you can just do some little things to make other people happy, to show people the way, to help people solve their problems or to give people hope, you will be happy and fulfilled.

Mother Teresa says: “Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace. Money will come if we seek first the kingdom of God – the rest will be given.”

Dear reader, the word of inspiration and assurance for you is this: money will come! That is certain! But you must first obey the commandment of God. Don’t let your own money problem or poor condition of living bar you from showing some acts of love, kindness, understanding and peace to humanity. Service to humanity comes first. THE COMMANDMENT OF GOD IS: GO AND SERVE HUMANITY AND YOU WILL NEVER LACK.

Although it may look as if it doesn’t make sense, it works. It is the KEY OF GOD’S KINGDOM WHICH YOU CAN USE TO UNLOCK THE DOOR TO ETERNAL ABUNDANCE. You should abandon your own problems and worries and go out to render service to humanity in any way you can. Go and become a solution to people’s problems.

The rich young ruler thought it won’t make sense for him to abandon his wealth and worries to follow Jesus to dispense the grace and love of God to humanity. O that the rich young ruler knew that Jesus was handing him the very key to his glorious destiny.

Nothing brings happiness, fulfillment and God’s favour than abandoning our own interest to protect the interest of others. It is not the number of problems confronting us that are weighing us down. It is our failure to obey kingdom principle that is robbing us of happiness, fulfillment and God’s favour.

Jesus took the path of service and became the master of the universe. He served God and mankind to the fullest. He laid down His life for humanity and all powers on earth and in heaven were given to Him by God.

Dear reader, do you need power for victorious living? Then practice the kingdom principle. Go out of your way to put smiles on the face of those who have none. Go out of your way to give people hope. Let people know that they have hope for living. People should have every reason to worship God in spirit and in truth. Give people hope, give people inspiration.

The Challenge in Service

One common problem you will always face while rendering service to humanity is that some people will not appreciate your effort. They will try to find one fault or the other with you. They will question your motive behind the selfless service you are rendering to people.  They will try to remind you of the “folly” of your act of kindness.

As it were, kingdom principle will always sound senseless to those who don’t understand. But every true child of the kingdom knows that it works.

At the height of Jesus’ power and exploits, the hypocritical religious leaders of his day falsely tried to link His power source to Beelzebub. But He did not hesitate to make them see the foolishness of their thinking.

Again, as He hung on the cross at Calvary, one of the criminals that were crucified along with Him reviled Him: “If you are the son of God, save yourself and save us also.” Other people made some unkind remarks: “He saved others, but Himself He cannot save.”

Can you see that! Jesus was not crucified because of any sin He committed. He was crucified for the sins of mankind, yet some people never appreciated Him.

Great Lessons in Bitter Remarks

It is interesting to note that no matter how bitter a remark may be, there are always great lessons to learn from it. For this reason, instead of boiling up whenever you hear a bitter remark launched against you, calm down and pick out vital lessons from the remark.

Unknown to the criminal and those who made the bitter remark against Him while on the cross, they were actually pointing out a spiritual principle. The spiritual principle is this: if you save others, you cannot save yourself; and if you save yourself, you cannot save others.

Does it sound meaningful to you? Well, let us look at it this way: supposing on hearing the unkind remark of the criminal and the people, Jesus wielded His power and freed Himself and the criminals from the cross, do you think He would have died to save the world?

If Jesus freed Himself from the cross, He would not have redeemed mankind from the bondage of satan. His death and resurrection is to reconcile mankind back to God.

The spiritual lesson here is this: if you become too self-centred, you can never be relevant to God and to humanity. At best, you can only be useful to yourself, but even at that, you are never happy and fulfilled. This is because you can never be happy and fulfilled by being self-centred. The rich young ruler was never happy and fulfilled. All he cared about was Himself.

People who are too preoccupied with themselves are never happy people. The fact is: it is in living for others that you are fulfilled. So, even when people don’t appreciate what you are doing for humanity, don’t let that stop you from doing good works. If you stop it, you won’t be able to help them.

The Rewards

It is in helping others that you get rewarded. In addition to happiness and fulfillment, you are also rewarded with promotion, success, prosperity and God’s favour. Some people will even pray for you to wax stronger and stronger.

The Book of Success, the Bible says: “The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself” (Proverbs 11:25). When you are practicing kingdom principles, you will enjoy peace and fulfillment which some do not enjoy.

The secret to peace and fulfillment is shifting your focus from self to others. The more you focus on yourself, the more unhappy you become. This is because self-centredness doesn’t bring happiness. Learn to consider the interest of others. Think of any way you can be of benefit to humanity and concentrate on helping people solve their problems.

Your focus should be on how you can serve humanity in honesty and in sincerity. You will not experience real joy and fulfillment until you do!

Till I come your way soon, go and take the path of service, in honesty and sincerity and you will unlock the door of eternal abundance even right here on the earth!

       

       

How to Abandon the “Blame Game” and Play the “Main Game” (1)

There are basically two games we normally play in life. It is either we are playing the “blame game” or we are playing the “main game.” The blame game is all about finding someone to blame for everything that goes wrong in our lives. The main game, on the other hand, is taking responsibility for everything that happens in our lives.

Whether we like it or not, we are all guilty of playing the blame game at one point in time or the other. The way we play the blame game is this: whenever we are suffering from prolonged misfortune and there seems to be no way out, then, out of frustration, we start suspecting every person and holding them responsible for our plight.

As a result of this, we see everybody as our enemies. And the more we see everybody as our enemies, the more insecure we feel each time we see them. By continuing to play this blame game, we continue to sink morally, spiritually and character wise. 

Some have so indulged themselves in this blame game that they become paranoid. They are not secure with everybody because everybody is their suspect. If you realize how destructive this blame game is, you will pity those that are indulging in the game.

Dear reader, if you have been indulging in the blame game, I urge you to read the whole of this article, for it is my hope that you will receive the inspiration and motivation to abandon the blame game and start playing the main game.

The truth is, blaming everybody for your misfortune will not solve or put an end to it. Suspecting everybody as the person behind your problem will not bring relief either. Blame game is not a game you play and win. No matter how long you indulge in it, you can never come out of it victorious!

You need to examine yourself very well. If you think everybody is responsible for the problems you are facing, then, think again. What is it you are doing that everybody has become your enemy? What is it you have that everybody is jealous of you?

Anyone who thinks everybody is responsible for his problems must examine himself or ought to be examined, probably by a psychiatrist. I am not a psychiatrist, but I do know that there is a psychiatric disorder called paranoia.

A paranoid person is an insecure person. He feels everybody is his enemy. The more he sees everybody that he suspects, the more troubled he becomes. Blame game players don’t normally win because blame game is not a game anybody can play and win.

If you think some people are responsible for your misfortune and you start seeing them as the ones holding the key to your breakthroughs in life, you are coming close to selling your soul to satan. Satan is a manipulator. Jesus called satan a liar and father of all lies. If you allow him to supplant suspicion in your mind, he may succeed in ruining your life.

Elsewhere in North Africa, a hawker was banished from plying his trade in a prohibited part of a city, by some law enforcement agents. Frustrated, the man set himself ablaze! That is the consequence of blame game for you! In this man’s opinion, the government of his country is the cause of his problem. Perhaps, they might have been pursuing him out of the city for a long time, and because of frustration, he committed suicide.

Now, let us analyse this incident so that you can see how destructive it is to play the blame game. There is government regulation banning hawkers and traders from doing business in a particular part of the city. The rule of law is expected to reign supreme in the country. As such, everybody must, of necessity, comply with the rule. The deceased is not the only man that is banned by the law from trading in the prohibited area.

Apart from the prohibited area, there are other parts of the city where hawkers can lawfully carry out their businesses. For other hawkers and traders, execution of this government law is a usual thing. 

But for the deceased, it was something unusual. Government is out to punish him. He is the only person the law enforcement agents are chasing all around. The government is the WITCH that does not want to see his face. If government doesn’t want him to do his business, then, he is not worthy to live. The witches and wizards (law enforcement agents) are all out to starve him to death. He can’t take it anymore. Before they starve him to death, he will rather take his life. Off he goes! Takes petrol and matches and sets himself ablaze!

This is pathetic! If only he stopped playing the blame game. If only he opted for the main game. After all, he was not the only one being chased around from one corner to the other. What if he had adverted his mind to the fact that:

• The law is supreme.

• The law is for the benefit of all and as such, it must be obeyed by all.

•  No one is witch hunting him.

•  The law cannot restrict him completely. It is only in the prohibited area of the city that he is being prevented from entering.

•  In the same city, there are places that government permits hawkers and traders to ply their trade.

Dear reader, one particular fact about the blame game is that the more you play it, the deeper you sink into oblivion. Blame game players don’t normally win. Blame game is not a game you play and win.

Take Responsibility

If things are not working the way we expect, the usual thing we normally do is that we look for someone to blame. Instead of playing the main game, we indulge ourselves in the self-destructive blame game.

Dear reader, it is impossible that offence will not come. Of course, you may have some enemies, but it is not everybody that is your enemy. If you take everybody as your enemy, you may never be able to break loose from the stronghold of the blame game.

To be victorious in life, you must abandon the blame game and start playing the main game. Now, what is the main game and how do you play it? The main game is nothing but RESPONSIBILITY. Winston Churchill said: “The price of success is responsibility.” THE STARTING POINT TO VICTORIOUS LIVING IS TO STOP LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO BLAME FOR YOUR PLIGHT.

Your enemies might have been frustrating you over the years. Your enemies might have caused you the misfortune you are experiencing. BUT IT IS NOT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF YOUR ENEMIES TO UNDO WHAT THEY HAVE DONE. THAT IS WHY THEY ARE YOUR ENEMIES. THEY WON’T UNDO WHAT THEY HAVE DONE. IT IS, THEREFORE, STUPID TO TRY TO NEGOTIATE WITH YOUR ENEMIES.

What are you negotiating? To negotiate with your enemies is to sell your soul to satan. Satan has no god thing to offer. The Book of Success, the Bible, says: “The devil cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy.” (John 10:10).

It is your responsibility to resist the devil. The Bible says: “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7). If you are under attack by satan and the enemies of progress, you don’t have to go about seeking sympathy from “arms of flesh” that do fail.

When it comes to spiritual matters (and even non spiritual matters) you don’t negotiate with your enemies. Your enemies are ever ready to ignore you and seek ways to worsen the very situation they have caused.

Enough of that blame game. Stop blaming everybody for your plight and start taking the responsibility for solving the problems confronting you. YOU CANNOT EFFECTIVELY SOLVE THE PROBLEMS CONFRONTING YOU UNTIL YOU STOP BLAMING PEOPLE.

THE REASON WE ARE BLAMING OTHERS FOR OUR PLIGHT IS THAT WE ARE NOT YET READY TO TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF HANDLING OUR PROBLEMS. THE RESPONSIBILITY OF UNDOING WHAT THE ENEMIES HAVE DONE IS YOURS. IF IT IS GOING TO BE, IT IS UP TO YOU. IF YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE A BREAKTHROUGH, IT IS UP TO YOU.

But the way to undo what your enemies have done is certainly not blaming everybody for it. Everybody cannot be against you. If you blame everybody for your plight, how does that help to solve your problem?

You don’t solve problems by blaming everybody for the problems; you solve problems by taking responsibility. The path to victorious living is taking responsibility for everything that happens in your life, even if you are not the cause of the problems or even if everybody is the cause of your problems.

Make up your mind today that you will stop playing the blame game and start playing the main game. And until I come your way soon, go and live victoriously!

 NB: please watch out for part two of this article which will come your way soon. don't miss it!